Hoist conversion unit for small tractors

ABSTRACT

The invention comprises an attachment for a hoist assembly for attachment to a self-powered vehicle having a front power takeoff comprising; a gear case assembly coupled to the fore frame of the tractor; a shaft extending horizontally through said gear case; a reeling drum and a ratchet wheel mounted on said shaft; a releasable pawl mounted on said gear case assembly for engagement with said ratchet wheel, a hoisting boom having means for mounting on the fore frame of the tractor, brace means for said boom supported on said gear case assembly and a cable trained around said reeling drum and extending over the upper end of said boom.

United States Patent Burr [451 June 13, 1972 HOIST CONVERSION UNIT FOR SMALL TRACTORS [72] Inventor: John F. Burr, 32 North Kanawha.

Buckhannon, W. Va. 26201 [22] Filed: July24, 1970 [21] Appl.No.: 57,94]

2,428,085 9/1947 Cargen ..254/139.l

Primary Examiner-Harvey C. Hornsby Attorney-Smith, Michael, Bradford & Gardiner 5 7] ABSTRACT The invention comprises an attachment for a hoist assembly for attachment to a self-powered vehicle having a front power takeoff comprising; a gear case assembly coupled to the fore frame of the tractor; a shaft extending horizontally through said gear case; a reeling drum and a ratchet wheel mounted on said shaft; a releasable pawl mounted on said gear case assembly for engagement with said ratchet wheel, a hoisting boom having means for mounting on the fore frame of the tractor, brace means for said boom supported on said gear case assembly and a cable trained around said reeling drum and extending over the upper end of said boom.

2 Claims, 8 Drawing Figures PATENTEDJUN13 I972 3,669,410

SHEET 1 OF 2 INVENTOR. John F Burr BYM 741402 172,

ATTORNEYS I-IOIST CONVERSION UNIT FOR SMALL TRACTORS The invention is directed toward auxiliary equipment for relatively small, general-purpose two and four wheeled tractors whereby the utility of such tractors is expanded to the area of lifting devices. More particularly, the invention is concerned with a hoist attachment for so-called two and four wheeled garden tractors.

The advent of small, reliable internal combustion engines has enabled various manufacturers of agricultural equipment to engineer and market small tractors particularly adapted for use on small farms, estates, and the like. These vehicles are manufactured in either two-wheeled, hand-guided form or in more conventional four-wheeled or riding tractor form. A companion line of attachments is available for use with such vehicles, these including wagons, plows, cultivators, spreaders and the like. Even more recently, power takeoff attachments have come into vogue to render such tractors much more versatile in operation and use.

One of the most well-known and widely marketed lines of two and four-wheeled tractors, of the type of interest here, is the -Gravely" line manufactured by Gravely Tractor Co. and sold nationwide through factory authorized outlets. This line of tractors features among other attributes a front-mounted power takeoff which when attached to the basic vehicle enables its use in a variety of situations where the power of the internal combustion engine proves advantageous for other reasons than merely to propel the vehicle. In earlier issued U.S. Pat. No. 3,313,524 of Apr. ll, 1967 to John F. Burr, there is disclosed a typical Gravely" two-wheeled tractor with an auxiliary power takeoff attachment fixed to the forepart of the tractor. The attachment not only converts the twowheeled vehicle to a four-wheeled vehicle for general utility with a variety of power-operated tools but, as claimed in the patent, a suitable winding drum is provided wherein the combination may be used as a portable winch.

It is with this combination that the present invention is concerned where by the combination is rendered more versatile as a portable hoist. The present invention, also enables conversion of four-wheeled vehicles into portable hoists by utilizing the same basic power takeoff attachment in association with a boom structure.

Having outlined the background of the concept in general terms, a full and complete understanding of the invention will be derived from the appended drawings and following descriptive material wherein FIG. 1 is an overall side view of a four-wheeled tractor converted into a portable hoist,

FIG. 2 is a side view of a two-wheeled tractor converted into a portable hoist,

FIG. 3 is an enlarged side view of the pawl and ratchet assembly taken from the opposite side as the view of FIG. 2,

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of a portion of the side view of FIG. 1,

FIG. 5 is a front view of the gear casing shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 with the vehicle background removed for clarity,

FIG. 6 is a front view of the tractor and hoist combination shown in FIG. 5,

FIG. 7 is a partial sectional view taken along the line 7-7 of FIG. I, while FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a mounting bracket assembly.

Considering first FIG. 1 it will be seen that there is shown a four-wheeled tractor 10 having steering wheels 2 and rear driving wheels 4. The engine compartment 6 is disposed forwardly of the vehicle which is also provided with a forward frame 8 serving to carry same and, as will be seen, the forward power takeoff connection to be described.

As is obvious the operator of the vehicle is seated therein on seat 12 when the vehicle is in operation and the various controls to operate the vehicle suchas steering wheel 14 are arranged for convenience adjacent the operatiors station or seat 12.

The power takeoff attachment is afiixed to the forward area of frame 8 as will be described and is operated by conventional controls (not shown) whereby the engine may be declutched from driving wheels 4 and clutched to the power takeoff shaft 12 which extends forwardly beneath frame 8 as is conventional in the art.

As shown in FIG. 1 and also enlarged FIG. 2, the forepart of frame 8 is provided with depending brackets 14, (only one shown). The brackets 14 extend diagonally forwardly and downwardly and, in turn, support a power takeoff mount 16 which extends across the front of the vehicle and which supports the forward end of power takeoff shaft 12 and also forms a mounting means for the power takeoff assembly 20 again this arrangement being conventional in the art and described in detail in U.S. Pat. No. 3,313,524. I

At the center of the mount 16, coincident with the centerline of the vehicle, there is removably fixed a power takeoff assembly 20 which is comprised of a gear case 18 having a driven gear which is engageable with a through-shaft 24, all as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,313,524. A tubular extension 22 serves as a support for gear case 18; said extension being bolted to the mount 16 and also to gear case 18.

Turning now to FIGS. 3 and 4 in particular, it may be seen that through-shaft 24 has both of its ends disposed outwardly of gear case 18. The right-hand end (as viewed facing toward the front of tractor 10) has mounted thereon a cable reeling drum 26. This drum may be of the same type as disclosed in Burr U.S. Pat. No. 3,313,524 or an equivalent design, that is fixed to shaft 24 so as to rotate therewith. The left-hand end of shaft 24 has mounted thereon a ratchet wheel 28 of conventional design said wheel being also affixed on the shaft for rotation therewith. The ratchet wheel 28 has generally arcuate teeth which curve forwardly (see FIG. 4), said teeth being spaced apart a sufficient distance to receive therebetween a pin 32 mounted on lever 34. Pin 32 and lever 34 define a pawl which can be actuated by control rod 36 attached to control arm 38 as will be subsequently described.

Considering again FIGS. 1 and 2, it will be seen that a hoisting boom assembly 40 is mounted on the forepart of tractor frame 8 and braced by a compression strut against the top of gear case 18. Boom assembly 40 includes a yoke 42 which is bolted to the frame 8 of tractor 10 by the same bolts 44 that attach members 12 to said frame. As shown, particularly in FIG. 7, yoke 42 is formed of channel members which are suitably welded together. The cross member 44 of yoke 42 is provided with a pair of spaced, parallel plates 46, 48, which plates receive therebetween the end of the boom proper which may be fabricated of two channels welded together in face-toface relation to form a generally box-shaped cross section all as shown in FIG. 7.

The boom 40 is provided at its upper terminal end with a pulley 52 mounted in a purely conventional manner. A cable 54 is trained over pulley 52; its free end provided with a hook 56 or any other known hoisting implement. The other end of cable 54 is wrapped around drum 26 as is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,313,524 or in known arrangements in the art.

In order to brace the boom 40, a compression strut 58 is affixed thereto and extends generally vertically downward so that its lower end is supported on gear case 18. At this lower end the strut is provided with a pad 62 and a pair of spaced angles 64, 64 defining a saddle which rests on gear case 18.

The operation of the device is relatively obvious. The tractor engine is clutched to power takeoff shaft 12 and via gear case 18 and shaft 24 to the winding drum 26. When an item is being lifted, i.e., the shaft 24 is turning counter clockwise as viewed in FIG. 4, the pawl is automatically disengaged from ratchet wheel 28 due to the shape of the teeth thereof. When a load is to be lowered the shaft 24 is rotated just enough to release pawl pin 32 from ratchet wheel 28 and is held free by operator's manipulation of control rod 36. By manipulation of the tractor clutch the load can be lowered onto whatever surface it is to be deposited.

Turning now to FIGS. 5, 6 and 8, a modification of the invention is disclosed wherein the hoist combination is adaptable to a two-wheeled operator-guided tractor. In this arrangement, the gear case 18 is mounted on the front of the tractor 80 as before and as shown in aforesaid Burrv US. Pat. No. 3,313,524. The tractor is a purely conventional Gravely type having an internal combustion engine 82 and driven wheels 84 and a power takeoff assembly 86 which is driven from engine 82.

Instead of being cantilevered forwardly of the tractor 80, the gear case 18 is provided with a wheeled extension comprised of tubular support member 66 and wheels 68, 68 suitably journaled thereon, all as fully described in Burr US. Pat. No. 3,313,524.

The boom assembly 40 is modified to the extent that it is provided with an A-frame 70 comprised of two downwardly diverging legs 72, 72' and cross' member 74 all fabricated of any suitable structural material such as metal angle iron or the like. The upper ends of arms 72 are, preferably, removably affixed as by bolts 76 to boom assembly 40 so that the frame extends downwardly forwardly of and to either side of wheels 68. The A-frame thus serves as a stabilizer.

In addition to the mentioned changes, it should be noted that the connection of the boom assembly 40 to the tractor frame is also somewhat different in that yoke 42 is dispensed with. In its stead there is provided a simple extension 78 which is attached to the end thereof by a plate and bolt connection 92, 94. The terminal end of extension 78 is seated in a bracket assembly 90 which assembly is shown in FIG. 8 with the extension 78 outlined in phantom lines.

As shown in FIG. 8, the bracket assembly 90 consists of a plate 92 which is disposed transverse to the front of the tractor and is bolted thereon by the same bolts 23 which attach extension 22 to the tractor power takeoff housing 86. Fixed, as by welding to plate 92 are a pair of parallel boom connectors 94, 94' between which the end of boom extension 78 is positioned. Suitable bolts (not shown) serve as the connector means between connectors 94, 94 and extension 78.

Also mounted on plate 92 and comprising a part of bracket assembly 90 is an L-shaped pawl support 96 which serves as the means for pivotal connection of pawl arms 98, 98' to the combination of FIG. 5 and arms 34, 34 as shown in FIG. 1.

The boom assembly also includes the compression strut 58 which rests on gear case 18, all as previously described in connection with FIG. 1.

The operation and function of the apparatus of FIG. 5 et seq. is obviously the same as that described in connection with the FIG. 1 disclosure.

Having thus described the novel concepts of the hoist conversion in detail, it is believed that various modifications and changes will be apparent to those skilled in the art; which modifications and changes are within the spirit and scope of the claims wherein:

What is claimed is:

1. In combination, a four-wheeled, self-propelled tractor having an internal combustion engine and a hoist conversion therefor comprising a front mounted power takeoff driven by said engine, said power takeofi comprising a generally cylindrical gear case and a tubular housing interposed between the front of the tractor and said gear case, shaft and gear means within said tubular housing and said gear case, a horizontal. driven, work shaft extending from said gear case to either side thereof and driven by said shaft and gear means. bracket means connecting an end of said tubular housing to the fore frame of the tractor, a reeling drum mounted on one end of said work shaft, a toothed ratchet wheel mounted on the other end of said shaft with the gear case interposed between said reeling drum and said ratchet wheel, bracket means for connecting said tubular housing and said tractor fore frame, pawl means mounted on said bracket means and releasably engaging said toothed ratchet wheel to selectively prevent its rotation in one direction only, when said pawl means is engaged with said ratchet wheel; a boom extending at an angle forwardly of said tractor and upwardly over said gear case; said boom including yoke means connecting the lower terminal end thereof to the fore frame of the tractor; a pulley rotatably journaled in the opposite terminal end of said boom; cable means trained over said pulley and wrapped on said reeling drum, brace means having a lower end supported by said power takeoff and its opposite upper end attached to said boom; and means for operating said pawl extending rearwardly of said tractor takeoff combination for operation by an operator of said tractor.

2. The combination as defined in claim 1 wherein said yoke straddles the fore frame of the tractor and is removably fixed to either side thereof. 

1. In combination, a four-wheeled, self-propelled tractor having an internal combustion engine and a hoist conversion therefor comprising a front mounted power takeoff driven by said engine, said power takeoff comprising a generally cylindrical gear case and a tubular housing interposed between the front of the tractor and said gear case, shaft and gear means within said tubular housing and said gear case, a horizontal, driven, work shaft extending from said gear case to either side thereof and driven by said shaft and gear means, bracket means connecting an end of said tubular housing to the fore frame of the tractor, a reeling drum mounted on one end of said work shaft, a toothed ratchet wheel mounted on the other end of said shaft with the gear case interposed between said reeling drum and said ratchet wheel, bracket means for connecting said tubular housing and said tractor fore frame, pawl means mounted on said bracket means and releasably engaging said toothed ratchet wheel to selectively prevent its rotation in one direction only, when said pawl means is engaged with said ratchet wheel; a boom extending at an angle forwardly of said tractor and upwardly over said gear case; said boom including yoke means connecting the lower terminal end thereof to the fore frame of the tractor; a pulley rotatably journaled in the opposite terminal end of said boom; cable means trained over said pulley and wrapped on said reeling drum, brace means having a lower end supported by said power takeoff and its opposite upper end attached to said boom; and means for operating said pawl extending rearwardly of said tractor takeoff combination for operation by an operator of said tractor.
 2. The combination as defined in claim 1 wherein said yoke straddles the fore frame of the tractor and is removably fixed to either side thereof. 